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NASA also chose American aerospace company Boeing to serve as a possible partner in its Artemis program. But the company’s Starliner rocket has faced major delays and difficulties during past test flights.

美国宇航局还选择美国航空航天公司波音作为其阿尔忒弥斯计划的可能合作伙伴。但该公司的 Starliner 火箭在过去的试飞中遇到了严重的延误和困难。 

In the last one, Starliner successfully transported two American astronauts – Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams – to the ISS in early June. The two were expected to stay in space for only a week. But ongoing technical issues with the Starliner spacecraft prevented a return trip. 

在最后一艘中，Starliner 于 6 月初成功将两名美国宇航员——布奇·威尔莫尔和苏尼·威廉姆斯——运送到国际空间站。两人预计仅在太空停留一周。但 Starliner 航天器持续存在的技术问题阻止了返程。 

NASA recently decided to have Starliner return to Earth without the astronauts. The plan is for Wilmore and Williams to return home from the ISS in February on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. 

美国宇航局最近决定让星际客机在没有宇航员的情况下返回地球。威尔莫尔和威廉姆斯计划于 2 月份乘坐 SpaceX Dragon 飞船从国际空间站返回家园。

Before SpaceX’s latest mission, several Starship rockets exploded during the test flights. The last non-exploding test happened in June. During that flight, SpaceX reported some damage to heat-resisting tiles on the outside of Starship. But improvements made since then appeared to have succeeded. 

在 SpaceX 执行最新任务之前，几枚 Starship 火箭在试飞期间发生爆炸。最后一次非爆炸测试发生在六月。在那次飞行中，SpaceX 报告称，星际飞船外部的耐热瓷砖出现了一些损坏。但此后所做的改进似乎取得了成功。 

After Sunday’s flight, SpaceX chief Elon Musk said the rockets appeared to be generally in good condition, with just minor warping of some outer engine parts from intense heat. He noted that those parts could be fixed easily. 

周日的飞行结束后，SpaceX 首席执行官埃隆·马斯克 (Elon Musk) 表示，火箭似乎总体状况良好，只是一些外部发动机部件因高温而出现轻微变形。他指出这些部件可以很容易地修复。

Musk is also chief of the social media service X. On the service, he expressed excitement when the Starship booster rocket returned to the launch area and was “caught” by the structure. SpaceX calls the huge metal arms that capture and secure the bo